University News Last updated 15 September 2011
Cultural leaders from some of the most important arts and cultural organisations in the region will gather at Birmingham City University today (Thursday 15 September) to drive forward a campaign to ensure Britain’s second city is recognised as a world-class centre of excellence in culture and creativity.
Organisations attending the event being hosted in partnership with Birmingham City Council will include:
The Arts Council England, the BBC, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham Cultural Partnership, Birmingham Opera, Birmingham Rep, Marketing Birmingham, Birmingham Jazz, Big Brum, Thinktank, The Drum, Stan’s Café, Capsule, Ikon, Vivid, Hippodrome, and local universities and media companies such as Ember TV.
Birmingham is home to some of world’s finest cultural artefacts – including the largest collection of pre-Raphaelite art in the world and the iconic Anglo-Saxon Staffordshire Hoard – and in response a strategy blueprint is being designed to ensure the city becomes a global showcase.
Representatives from the national and regional cultural community will attend the ‘Big City Culture - Where Next?’ forum hosted at Birmingham City University’s internationally renowned Conservatoire on Thursday 15 September from 9.30am.
The event will be opened by Professor David Tidmarsh, Vice-Chancellor at Birmingham City University, and Councillor Martin Mullaney, Cabinet Chair for Leisure, Sport and Culture.
Cllr Mullaney said: “Working together is now more important than ever and this event underlines the ongoing partnerships between Birmingham City Council and cultural organisations across the city.
“We all recognise the vital importance of culture and the arts, in terms of both the city economy and the overall quality of life.”
Keynote speaker Tom Flemming, a creative consultant who specialises in supporting
The forum is on the eve of Birmingham City University launching phase one of its new City Centre Campus at Birmingham’s Eastside, a state-of-the-art facility that will directly support creative and cultural excellence in the region. A turf cutting ceremony is planned for Tuesday 20 September.
“Birmingham City University is hosting the Big City Culture event to reinforce its important position as a major cultural contributor,” said Joanna Birch, Head of Enterprise Development, at Birmingham City University.
“The event is about building on the Big City Culture Strategy and follows the major shift in economic focus of the region and the removal of many public funding bodies to provide a sustainable means to develop culture for the long term.”
The Big City Culture strategy blueprint identifies four key themes:
- A ‘Great International City’, ensure Birmingham’s world-class excellence in the arts, culture and creativity is fully recognised
- ‘Next Generation’, investing in the next generation of young talent
- ‘Culture on Your Doorstep’, developing a cultural infrastructure that reaches beyond the city centre and into the wider community
- ‘Creative and Cultural Industries’, focussing on high growth areas and the conditions required for development.
The delegates aim to have agreed a set of actions to take the next step in putting Birmingham at the heart of an international global community.
Follow the below link if you would like to see more about Birmingham's Cultural Strategy: birminghamculture.org/birmingham-cultural-partnership/our-strategy